Thanks to the generosity of 114 donors, the RMO secured $13,204 in donations through the ExtraOrdinary Give! This allowed us to receive an additional $12,500 in matching funds, provided by several additional generous supporters.

In addition to this total of $25,704, we will also receive a pro-rated portion of the ExtraOrdinary Give "Stretch Pool" dollars! This was truly a remarkable day for the RMO!

These funds will allow us to serve even more returning citizens with our RMO programs and services so they can successfully complete treatment and trainings, learn valuable life skills, get jobs, stay clean and sober, pay their child support, restitution and bills, re-build relationships with their families, and lead crime-free, healthy lives with meaning and purpose.

And when returning citizens are successful, our community is safer, which helps ALL of us!

THANK YOU to our generous donors and supporters! YOU are ExtraOrdinary! WE are Grateful!

This Match Fund is a tremendous opportunity for the RMO and all of our donors to maximize the impact of every donation to create a safer community for all of us, by ensuring that Returning Citizens have access to the resources and supports they need to live crime-free, productive lives.

Hot off the press, our 2016 RMO Annual Report highlights the impact we're having in the community, by providing Resources, Mentoring and Opportunities to people being released from incarceration back into our neighborhoods, so they can be productive, contributing members of the community. Please be sure to check it out here.

UPDATE: 7/8/2016: Governor Wolf has signed into law a new measure that will SUSPEND Medicaid (Medical Assistance) benefits rather than terminating them for anyone who is going to be incarcerated for 2 years or less. This will be a tremendous benefit to any of the more than 6000 people who go into Lancaster County Prison every year who are on Medical Assistance, as they will have immediate access to healthcare benefits upon their release.

For quite some time persons reentering into society have been plagued with unjust and seemingly inescapable hardships. Among these hardships is access to affordable and effective medical help. Similar to mainstream society, many returning citizens struggle with addiction and have mental health complications, but because of their status or situation coming out of incarceration, they don't have the same access that another citizen would. Recently, there has been nationwide movement in changing Medicaid programs so that returning citizens will be able to utilize their services. Potentially, Medicaid is a source that would assist those reentering in supporting addiction and mental health needs.

As a new article by the Council of State Governments explains, "As states across the country adopt changes in their Medicaid programs, people who were previously ineligible for coverage have become eligible, including a significant number of people involved with the criminal justice system."

In Pennsylvania, the legislature is considering Senate Bill 1279 that would suspend Medical Assistance (Medicaid) benefits while someone is incarcerated, rather than terminating these benefits. If passed, this change would make a significant difference to the large numbers of people in our prisons and jails who suffer from addiction and mental health concerns, as they would no longer have to re-apply for Medical Assistance upon their release from incarceration and then wait for coverage. The bill is currently sitting in the PA Senate's Public Health & Welfare committee.

For details on who's on the PA Senate's Public Health & Welfare committee, see

Here's another in our series of StoryCorps interviews. This one is with Scott Brubaker, one of our mentors and facilitators for the Successful Returning Citizens Mentoring Support Group. Scott explores themes of surrender, redemption, believing in yourself again, and following your calling after your "darkest days."

RMO Overview

A collaborative group of over 50 organizations, the Lancaster County Re-Entry Management Organization (RMO) provides a way for the many groups that work with ex-offenders in Lancaster County to leverage their resources in a way that provides community alternatives to incarceration. The RMO elects the Lancaster County Re-Entry Management Council to plan for services, to develop common policies, and to secure resources on behalf of the member organizations.